Georges St. Pierre officially back with UFC

The Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire reported Friday that the Canadian MMA star has officially signed a new fight agreement with the UFC.

St. Pierre hasn’t fought since late 2013 but remains one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts. His presence will give the UFC a genuine headliner for pay-per-view cards, something the company is short on in the absence of Conor McGregor, the downfall of Ronda Rousey and the suspension of Jon Jones.

While the date of St. Pierre’s return isn’t set, the former welterweight champion won’t be short on options when he steps back into the octagon.

“It could be the winner (of the March 4 welterweight title fight) between Tyron Woodley and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson or it could be (middleweight champion) Michael Bisping,” UFC president Dana White told the L.A. Times. “Georges has also talked about fighting at 155 pounds (lightweight). He says he can make the weight.”

St. Pierre stepped away from fighting after a controversial decision victory over Johny Hendricks in 2013, but rumours of his potential return have never stopped generating headlines in the MMA community.

Last year, he re-entered the USADA testing pool and appeared on the verge of a return, only to have negotiations stall with the UFC, causing St. Pierre to declare himself a free agent.

While White didn’t get into too many details about the negotiations in his interview with the Times, he said it ultimately came down to the two sides sitting down and hammering out an agreement.

“He’s back. I’m excited,” White said. “We worked at it for a long time and finally got it done.”

CYBORG IN THE CLEAR

Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino has been cleared to fight.

The UFC star, debatably the most dominant female fighter in the world right now, was granted a retroactive therapeutic-use exemption by USADA, meaning she’s been cleared of wrongdoing after testing positive under the UFC’s anti-doping policy.

Justino denied using performance-enhancing drugs after the positive test became public in December, and was cleared after USADA completed a “comprehensive review” of her medical history and her use of spironolactone, for which she tested positive.

Her team argued that she was taking the drug to help combat the effects of a difficult weight cut earlier in the year.

“Upon notice of her positive test, Justino immediately identified a medication prescribed by her physician for the treatment of a common endocrine disorder as the source of the prohibited substance detected in her sample,” USADA said in a statement. “She also participated in multiple interviews with USADA’s investigative team and consented to USADA interviewing her physician, as well.”

Presumably, Friday’s development will lead to Justino fighting for the newly-established women’s 145-pound belt at some point in the near-future.

Justino has dominated every featherweight fighter who has been put in front of her over the last half-decade, but the UFC opted to pit Holly Holm against Germaine de Randamie last weekend in Brooklyn in the division’s inaugural title fight.

That bout wasn’t exactly thrilling and did little to convince anybody that new champion de Randamie will have much luck defending her belt when she’s finally locked inside the cage with Justino.

BUFFALO-BOUND

Patrick Cote’s been practically begging for a return to the octagon, and he’s gotten his wish.

On Friday, the UFC announced that the Canadian veteran will be back in the cage in April for the UFC 210 card in Buffalo, N.Y. and he will be fighting Brazilian Thiago Alves.

It’s a solid, high-profile fight for Cote, who is looking to bounce back after a TKO loss to Donald Cerrone at last June’s UFC Fight Night: Ottawa card. Alves has been around the UFC for ages and fought St. Pierre in the co-main event at UFC 100 back in 2009, so he’s a name that is sure to attract eyeballs to the fight.

Cote, meanwhile, was on a three-fight winning streak prior to his loss to Cerrone and had been actively calling for a match against fellow welterweight Jake Ellenberger.

The UFC 210 card is headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson.

KRYLOV CUT

The UFC’s light-heavyweight division appears to have lost another ranked fighter.

Mike Bohn, of MMAJunkie.com, reported Friday that 205-pound prospect Nikita Krylov was released from his contract earlier this month.

The news comes only a couple weeks after the UFC went its separate ways with Canadian light-heavyweight Misha Cirkunov, who happened to beat Krylov in the last fight for both fighters.

Ryan Bader is also reportedly leaving the UFC and signing with Bellator, so the UFC’s 205lb division may have lost three top-15 fighters in about a month.

It’s a curious development, as the division is light on up-and-coming talent. Cormier and Jones are both draws, and Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson are solid contenders, but after that the division is short on elite talent.